


With Great Doggo Comes Great Responsibility

by SymbiosisQueen



Series: Venom Drabbles and Fics [3]
Category: Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Let the family be happy, M/M, Other, Pets, Symbabies, family au, stray dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-08 22:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16437947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SymbiosisQueen/pseuds/SymbiosisQueen
Summary: V is determined to give their kids the best they can. They’ve heard that having pets works wonders for children and so when they and Eddie come across a friendly stray dog they’re absolutely positive that it needs to join their family.





	1. Part One

Eddie crouched down before the excited creature before him, running his fingers through its short fur while it huffed at him happily. “Teach them responsibility, Eddie!” came the excited voice of his Other, “Good for them!” they added. The symbiote was determined to get their human partner to agree, they’d seen many sections on the benefits of owning pets for both adults and children alike during their late-night television marathons.

“We don’t have the room, dear,” Eddie tried to reason, trying to not let the animal’s sweet face and loving licks get to him, “We certainly don’t have the money to feed her, and who will look after her?” he tried.

The large Pitbull, an older female, had been the only witness to the battle that had just taken place and while she had at first been nervous around Venom, she seemed to have taken to them quickly. She had bright blue eyes and her coat was white with large brown splotches all over. Her tail was wagging so quickly that her whole lower half was shaking rapidly and drips of drool dribbling from her wrinkled face.

“We can walk her, Eddie, share meat with her!” his lover continued, “Our children, they can help look after her.” There was little way that they would be convinced that taking home the stray animal was anything other than a great idea.

Eddie sighed softly, giving the dog a final pat before he straightened up, “And what if she doesn’t get on with the children?” he asked, frowning at the long stretch of silence that followed. The answer was obvious, but it seemed that his partner refused to acknowledge it. As far as they were concerned it was an excellent idea, but without the approval of their currently more rationally thinking husband they would drop the issue, albeit with a touch of disappointment.

It had grown late, and the pair began on their way home, stepping out of the dark of the alleyway and out onto the main street. There were very few people still out and those that were were headed out to early morning shifts. The sun would soon rise, and like baby birds, their spawn would wake, hungry and full of energy. Once they were home they would begin cooking breakfast so that everything would be ready for when their children awoke.

Thanks to the very little amount of sleep his Other needed, Eddie found that he could easily run on their combined energy and spend less and less time resting. This meant that they could take some time to rest in the afternoon to the early evening when crime was usually low before they would head out and spend the rest of the night on the prowl for danger and gathering food.

They had walked a few blocks, and Eddie was quick to notice that a certain four-legged friend was following their every move. He could feel the smugness that radiated from his Other, and he glanced backwards, spotting the dog a few feet away. She stopped the moment Eddie stopped, perhaps trying to keep her following discreet.

“Wants to come with us, Eddie,” V tried to reason, and Eddie could feel their smile, even if they currently possessed no physical form.

Eddie looked away, continuing their walk. He could hear claws on concrete, it was a sound that he was very familiar with. He tried to ignore it for the most part, but it grew more and more difficult with how his lover grew increasingly more pleased with themselves. It was only when they reached the door to their apartment building that he finally turned around again.

The large dog was still stood just a few feet away, her tail beginning to swish slowly as she cautiously lowered her head as if asking permission to approach. “Followed us home!” the symbiote hummed, absolutely giddy, “Can’t turn her away, Eddie, must help. Dog is innocent, needs shelter, needs a home.”

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing softly in defeat, “Alright, alright. But only a few days, until we can find her a home.” He finally resigned himself to his inevitable fate – it seemed as though he was destined to have an ever-growing family – he pulled his keys from the pocket of his jacket, pushing open the door as soon as it was unlocked.

He looked back over to the dog who had tilted her head in interest. “Come on then,” he called. The moment he spoke the words the dog practically jumped forward into a run, her mouth splitting into a wide, grin-like smile. Once she reached them she jumped up, placing her front paws on Eddie’s chest before pushing off of him and racing inside.

Shaking his head briefly in amusement, Eddie followed the dog inside, pausing to lock the door behind them. He gave the dog another call, and she was quick to follow him up the few flights of stairs up to their floor. As soon as the door to their apartment was unlocked the dog raced inside, her nose pressed to the ground as she sprinted around, trying to sniff every inch of her new territory.

Eddie took a moment to remind the symbiote that it was only temporary and that the dog would have to go soon. His lover, of course, knew that it wouldn’t take much pulling on Eddie’s heartstrings to get him to cave and accept their newest addition to the family, even if he would try to deny it vehemently, to begin with.

The children had taken to sleeping in their parents’ bed when they went out for the evening, finding safety in the familiar scent covering the sheets and pillows. The door to the room had been closed before they left, and so the dog and children remained separate for the time being.

Eddie’s other reminded him subtly that they still needed to prepare some breakfast, and so the two of them moved to the freezer, producing a packet of hash browns that he promptly opened and placed on a baking tray. V materialised from his back, reaching over to the fridge to gather up some bacon and eggs while Eddie placed the potato in their small oven.

They both moved in complete synchronisation as they worked on the meal, even if they had to now learn to step over the canine who was eagerly sniffing at the food as it cooked. They almost seemed to move on autopilot and it felt only like a few minutes before the hash browns, eggs and bacon were all cooked.

Simple as their meal may have sounded, each of the children had their own preferences on eggs. Carnage liked his eggs scrambled, he seemed to enjoy the fact that it was rather messy and all over the place. Scream and Agony liked their eggs sunny-side up, so they could see the pretty yellow of the yolk, but their siblings Riot and Phage liked the opposite. Lasher and Sleeper loved their eggs boiled since they enjoyed pulling the tiny bits of shell off them. Fortunately, the hash browns and bacon were far easier to cook.

Once they were done, Eddie filled an old bowl with water before placing it on the ground for the dog who eagerly lapped it up, her tail wagging gently to signal her gratefulness. He then placed down a plate with a few rashers of bacon, letting her have a share in their breakfast. She chomped down on the food, swallowing the meat and licking her chops.

While Eddie watched the canine eat, his symbiote crept away and opened up the door to their shared bedroom, slithering across the floor and towards the bed. They looked over the mattress, smiling fondly at the pile of aliens that were all curled up together, sleeping soundly, buried under the blankets and some soft pillows. They reached out with a handful of tentacle-like extensions to prod softly at their resting spawn, slowly waking them.

Carnage perked up immediately, grinning when they saw their parent before jumping onto their siblings, “Vivi’s home, Vivi’s home!” they chanted, scrambling over the others as they race towards the older symbiote. “We have food?” They ask, ignoring the disgruntled groans at being so rudely disturbed.

The Venom symbiote gave a nod of their serpent head, “We have breakfast ready, and a new friend for you to meet.” Their words catch the attention of some of the other children who are quick to look up.

“New friend?” Scream asked, shimmying across the bedsheets with an excited squeak. Their other siblings galivanted quickly to their parent’s side, bobbing up and down as they all unleashed a flood of questions about this new companion upon their parent. They merely laughed at their children’s enthusiasm, gesturing for them to follow with an inky tendril.

Carnage was the first to jump from the safety of the bed, barrelling across the creaky floor and through the door into the next room. They were quick to skid to a halt, only narrowly avoiding slamming into Eddie, who had come to greet the rest of the family. At his side, the dog tilted her head, looking down at the bright red creature with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

She took a step forward, sniffing at the strange blob, watching as they extended a red tendril in their direction. With a few pokes of her nose, the dog seemed to realise that Carnage was of no danger, in fact, she went as far as to give the symbiote a lick to the side of the face, earning a surprised squeal in response.

The Pitbull’s tail was thrashing about as she started huffing happily as she began to attack the alien’s face with doggie kisses. By then, Carnage’s siblings had all appeared and were spread out to surround the animal as they watched the interaction with interest. Once they saw that their older sibling was perfectly fine, they too drew close, petting the dog gently with their tentacles like they’d seen people do on the television.

They knew that dogs were not for eating, they were friends that needed to have lots of snuggles and pets to be happy and healthy. They were all fascinated, playing with the strange texture of the canine’s fur, exploring its strange shape. Fortunately, she seemed to somehow know that they were only young and was tolerant of their invasive jabs and touches.

“Who is puppy?” Lasher questioned, looking up at their Vivi while they wriggled about.

They glanced up at their husband who was happy to answer for them, “We’ll be looking after her, at least until we can find her a home,” Eddie explained, “She doesn’t have a name yet, though, what do you think little darlings?”

A chorus of voices rang out, “Killer!” Carnage shouted.

“Spot!”

“Doggy!”

“Biter!”

“Fluffy!”

Sleeper, while unable to actually add any suggestions, was loudly chirping along with their siblings, not entirely aware of what they were all saying. However, the sound seemed to catch the dog’s attention and she approached the youngest member of the family, licking Sleeper’s face as she would a small pup. She seemed to have a true motherly instinct, already caring for the new members of her pack, different as they may have been from any descendant of her own species.

“Those are all excellent names, children,” Eddie laughed softly. “What about you, Lasher, what do you think we should call her?” The green symbiote had stayed oddly quiet throughout the conversation, preferring to simply pet their new friend, but now they looked up, seeming to spend a long moment in thought.

“Lassie!” they trilled happily, seeming to gain confidence when several of their siblings voiced their agreement. Recently, the children had been watching an old television program about a dog of the same name and it seemed that they had all taken a liking to the heroic character. “Lassie! Lassie!” chanted the excited younglings, jumping up and down.

“What do you think, V?” Eddie asked, trying to keep down the fond smile that kept trying to take over his face. His lover hummed a soft affirmative, not bothering to hide their entertainment as they were rewarded with cheers from their tiny spawn.

“Still think Killer is best,” Carnage mumbled softly as they reached out to their father, clambering up his arm once Eddie held out a hand to them. They were far too old to be watching such a silly children’s show, they didn’t enjoy watching it at all. They just so happened to be there coincidentally at eleven thirty every weekday.

“Aww, won’t you be a good older sibling and let them have this, Carn?” Eddie teased, grinning when the symbiote pouted slightly.

“Fineee-” the alien groaned loudly, tilting their head back dramatically, “Only because I’m best sibling,” they assured him. They looked down silently, watching as their younger nest mates continued to play with their new pet.

“You certainly are,” Eddie agreed with a smirk. “But you must be hungry,” he suddenly said, watching as Carnage’s eyes lit up again, “does the best sibling want their breakfast?” It was rather adorable the way his face split open into an unnaturally wide smile at the mention of food.

“Yes! Hungry!” Carnage wriggled around, somehow managing to stay perched on his precarious position on Eddie’s shoulder whilst doing so. “Want bacon, lots of bacon, and eggs! Can squish all the eggs and crunch the crispy bacon with my teeth!”

Eddie merely nodded as he wandered over to gather the children’s meals, already planning the inevitable clean up that would be needed after the chaos that was breakfast.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second half of the fic! It's shorter than the first half, but I felt it was too much to add to the first part.

Lassie had been with the family for just over a week. In that time, the family had taken to their newest member with open arms, easily managing to add her to their usual routine. By daybreak Eddie and his Other would return home and cook breakfast as normal, but when they went to wake the children they now had to untangle the small aliens from the body of the sleeping dog.

She would join them for the first meal of the day, assisting them to clear up any food that fell to the floor while enjoying her own feed. Unfortunately, not all of the food that fell onto the floor was dropped accidentally. The children were by no means fond of sharing their food, but they seemed to get a certain amount of satisfaction from giving in to Lassie’s big, puppy dog eyes and pleasing her with small slithers of bacon and pieces of egg.

When Eddie and his partner left in the morning to walk down to the local shop they would now take the dog with them and were both pleased by how well she was trained, walking at their heel and sitting patiently outside the store while she waited for them to conclude their business. Whenever they needed to go somewhere in the city that was within walking distance they now walked, preferring to bring their companion with them throughout their travels.

The children had taken to climbing onto her and riding her around the house as though she were their mighty steed, and to top it off, Lassie seemed to enjoy the treatment, running around the living room while the symbiotes clung to her pelt and all squealed excitedly. Carnage always rode at the helm, perched upon the dog’s head and shouting directions above the childish giggling of their siblings.

When they all gathered on the couch in the afternoon to watch their daily hour of television, Lassie would curl up in front of the furniture on the old rug. While the others were content to spread out across the sofa’s pillows, Lasher was fonder of sitting on their canine friend, snuggling up into her warm fur.

While she was always gentle with the children, always sure to check that she wasn’t being too rough with them despite how surprisingly sturdy they were, she was fiercely protective of them. She was always on alert, her ears constantly swivelling in all directions and her head always raising to inspect anything she deemed suspicious. From her years on the streets, it seemed that the motherly canine had learnt what dangers to look out for in the world and how to keep her brood safe, especially when they left the apartment.

While on a small family outing to the local shopping mall, the children had put their savings together to afford a large bouncy ball and various smaller toys that they could reward their favourite dog with. Suffice to say, Lassie was run off her feet that afternoon with all seven of the aliens throwing the ball back and forth for her to retrieve.

Eddie had been forced to concede defeat with a rather put-upon sigh one evening while he and his lover were watching television before they went out for the night. Lassie was curled up beside the human and symbiote, her head resting gently in Eddie’s lap while he subconsciously stroked the top of her head. V was rather smug for the following few days, taking every opportunity they could to rub it in that they were right and that the dog was indeed an excellent new family member. Eddie would merely ‘tsk’ in response and shake his head with a good-natured smile at their antics.

The canine, fortunately, also didn’t seem to mind where her food was sourced, happy to simply eat whatever she received without complaint before happily trotting off to go play. She seemed to especially enjoy it when Venom would play tug-of-war with her, despite the obvious fact that she’d never be able to actually beat them in a fair fight. It only made her all the more excited when she managed to pull the toy from their grip, doing a small victory lap around the house, shaking the toy from side to side viciously.

Eddie and his other had also learnt that the easiest way for them to get the children to all agree to have a bath was under the guise of washing the dog. The first attempt at cleaning the animal was a disaster – the Pitbull deciding to jump out of the tub mid-wash and begin running around the house, barking merrily while Eddie sprinted after her – eventually the whole family was needed to corner the unruly mongrel and in the end everyone required a good wash down, lest they stink horribly of wet dog. Now it was the perfect excuse to get everyone cleaned.

It was difficult, sometimes, when Eddie lay awake at night, wondering just how they were going to keep everything afloat. With seven children, never ending rent and bills to pay, a new status as a local hero, and now also a dog to look after, he often felt more than a little drained by the time he was finally able to catch some sleep.

While a wiser man may have regretted the decision to take on yet another mouth to feed, Eddie had no such negative feelings, after all, he knew that they’d all be able to make it through in the end, difficult as it may be in the future yet. Their family, ever growing as it might have been, was strong enough to push past any obstacle in their path.

His lover often reassured him on evenings when his mind began to wander and started to bring up questions of ‘what if?’ and cause all manner of unwanted thoughts to arise. However, it seemed that the dog was just as in tune with human emotions, for she would often disentangle herself from the numerous spawn that snuggled against her and move to lie next to Eddie, placing her head or a paw on his chest and gently thumping her tail as if offering her own silent assurances.

“Look, Eddie,” V would always quietly whisper to him through their shared mind as if Eddie had failed to notice the large animal, “She knows how sad your thoughts are, but she knows that we’ll be okay!” Eddie would always chuckle to himself, thinking on just how positive and supportive his Other was, and always had been.

He supposed that if any bad thoughts wanted to threaten him they would have to go through both his lover and their new dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow the Venom Drabbles series here or my Tumblr if you want to read any more of the Venom stories I post :3


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